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Dozens of Australia's best blind cricketers come together in Adelaide for national championships

Updated
Tue 31 Dec 2013, 7:52 AM AEDT

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Blind Cricketers do battle in Adelaide

7pm TV News SA

Dozens of Australia's best vision-impaired cricketers have come together for the biennial National Blind Cricket Championships in Adelaide.

The game of cricket is rich in visual metaphors and phraseology. Brilliant catches are known as 'blinders'. First balls are called 'sighters' and there are also 'sightscreens' at either end of the ground.

Batsmen implore themselves to 'keep their eye on the ball' and are constantly scanning the field, alert to any subtle changes in placements.

Tailenders coming in to protect higher order batsmen are 'night watchmen'.

There are Twenty20 matches, just as there is 20/20 vision.

Now, there is even 'hawkeye' to adjudicate on lineball decisions that are beyond the powers of mere mortals. 'Hot spot' can show where the eye cannot go.

Paradoxically, this terminology has evolved in an era in which a once commonplace sight - players wearing glasses - has all but disappeared from international cricket.

There are, of course, exceptions. Australia's most recent Ashes centurion Chris Rogers still sports spectacles as he fields but prefers contact lenses when he bats. New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori has worn glasses since he was a boy and has, inevitably, been nicknamed 'Harry Potter'.

Bradman was once famously bowled by bespectacled Yorkshireman Bill Bowes for a first-ball duck in the Bodyline series.

In one of cricket's great tragedies, English Test player Colin Milburn lost his vision in one eye as a result of a car accident.

Coincidentally, England goalkeeper Gordon Banks did the same a few years later.

Few batsmen can have ever seen the ball better than Milburn when, playing for Western Australia against Queensland in Brisbane, he belted 181 runs between lunch and tea in a cyclone of stroke play.

Yet it is a tremendous testament to the game's versatility that it is not the exclusive domain of those who are blessed with the powers of sight.

In Adelaide, teams from South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT are currently competing in the 32nd biennial National Blind Cricket Championships.

The tournament for dozens of the nation's best players of various degrees of visual impairment involves both 20 and 40 over matches at Scotch College.

The ball is bowled underarm and is audible to the batsman, and must bounce at least twice along the pitch.

This variation may seem strange to those unused to it, but is not so different from how cricket was first played on England's southern downs, when overarm bowling had not been dreamt of and most fielders stood close to the wicket.

Communication the key, but sledging just the same

New South Wales captain Graham Coulton says in key respects it is no different to the conventional game, including its level of sledging.

"I don't think it's any different to what you hear in today's cricket to be honest," he said.

"At times we might go a little bit further because there's no mics on the field."

He says team work is especially important, with communication between the partially sighted and those without vision the key to success.

"You rely on your team mates a hell of a lot more," he said.

Competition manager Paul Whitton says picking a spot for the tournament is a challenge in itself.

"One of the highest selection criteria is a reasonably quiet place and then leading up to that you have to be able to make sure that the players can orientate themselves," he said.

South Australian captain Mark Haskett has been national wicketkeeper for a decade and says the camaraderie is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game.

"We're very close, particularly here in Adelaide," he said.

"We try and do things together on and off the ground. We get to the ground nice and early and the guys can relax, get themselves sorted out for the day and have a bit of a laugh."

Stephen Palmer from Whyalla had played red ball cricket but made the switch when his eyesight deteriorated.

He has now been playing for about 18 months, travelling to Adelaide most weekends during the season, and has represented his state as vice-captain.

"The batting technique's quite different. You've got to sweep a lot," he said.

"It's a very good game. You can still do a majority of the things like swing and spin."

For Victorian captain Peter Robinson, this year's tournament also notches up a special century - 100 matches at national level, a rare feat in the sport.

"Just being able to keep playing and playing and playing, it doesn't mean that you're any good," he said.

"But I've been playing at national level for 23 years, so it's a good milestone to bring up."

Those who impress in the championships could qualify for national selection to tour Sri Lanka in April, with the World Cup to be held at the end of 2014.

And, just for the record, Australia currently holds The Ashes, winning them in England in 2012.